Beauty and the Beast, a favorite of many, is a story full of
deep love, sacrifice, and beauty within. Five
Enchanted Roses is a novel filled with five different variations of the
classic tale and each one is incredibly unique.
The first story starts out fairly normal with a girl and her
father sailing. But as you keep reading, it morphs into a tale full of strange
seamen, enchanted ships, and betrayal. Our main character faces separation from
her father, ghost pirates, and threats of all kinds (including rape, but there
is no point at which this threat is even close to be carried out). The Beast we
come to know is the swash buckling kind and will entertain anyone who happens
across his story. Together they find a way to get her home, but as we see the
relationship between them develop, things seem a bit too good to be true.
Toward the climax, we do see the author address that detail. After we see
everything resolve, I thought the ending was a little rushed and sudden. But
the loose ends were tied and there is a happily ever after. The author does a
fantastic job of weaving descriptions into scenes, making the story extremely
life-like. Our characters are well developed and are interesting to get to
know, and the concepts are original and ingenious! The main reasons I loved
this story were because of the creativity that was invested, and Kaycee
Browning’s writing talent that brought the story to life. I thoroughly enjoyed
it and from page one, I was captured!
Savannah Jezowski is the talented writer of the second Enchanted Rose in which there are suspenseful encounters with wraiths, ghouls, and frightening creatures that stalk the forests. Lilybet, our main character, entangles herself in the dark story of the Beast. She goes in place of her sister because she knows what predators lurk in the shadows of the journey, monsters that her sister would never survive meeting. Surprisingly, our beast is only beast in form and not at heart, though you do not think so at first. At one point we are tricked into thinking he sucks the heroine’s blood. (That particular scene made me gag a bit. The details were rather gross.) We find out later that he was actually sucking poison from her arm to save her. My favorite element of this story was Lilybet’s personality. She was bold, and sacrificial, and witty (what could be better?). Her realistic characteristics can’t help but draw a reader’s admiration. On a negative note, the story was very dark. I wouldn’t say it was a horror story, but it definitely had plenty of the horror elements. I really hate giving negative feedback, especially on a story so well written, but I have to warn you if you are sensitive to dark and eerie tales. I felt pretty uncomfortable with almost the whole thing just because it was so well written and therefore a little too vivid. Even though I was apprehensive throughout the tale, I was captivated nonetheless. I wanted to see what was going to happen next. I wanted to see how the story bloomed. I was drawn into the story, into Lilybet’s adventure. I assure you, Mrs. Jezowski is one talented writer!
Savannah Jezowski is the talented writer of the second Enchanted Rose in which there are suspenseful encounters with wraiths, ghouls, and frightening creatures that stalk the forests. Lilybet, our main character, entangles herself in the dark story of the Beast. She goes in place of her sister because she knows what predators lurk in the shadows of the journey, monsters that her sister would never survive meeting. Surprisingly, our beast is only beast in form and not at heart, though you do not think so at first. At one point we are tricked into thinking he sucks the heroine’s blood. (That particular scene made me gag a bit. The details were rather gross.) We find out later that he was actually sucking poison from her arm to save her. My favorite element of this story was Lilybet’s personality. She was bold, and sacrificial, and witty (what could be better?). Her realistic characteristics can’t help but draw a reader’s admiration. On a negative note, the story was very dark. I wouldn’t say it was a horror story, but it definitely had plenty of the horror elements. I really hate giving negative feedback, especially on a story so well written, but I have to warn you if you are sensitive to dark and eerie tales. I felt pretty uncomfortable with almost the whole thing just because it was so well written and therefore a little too vivid. Even though I was apprehensive throughout the tale, I was captivated nonetheless. I wanted to see what was going to happen next. I wanted to see how the story bloomed. I was drawn into the story, into Lilybet’s adventure. I assure you, Mrs. Jezowski is one talented writer!
Our third tale is similar to the
original in setting and atmosphere: the castle, the forbidden wing, cursed
servants, and of course, the beast. However, the plotline takes on a twist when
it begins from a servant girl’s perspective. I thought this angle to be a very
pleasant change, and it gave me a fresh look at the story. It was a very sweet
tale which I enjoyed thoroughly, though our ‘villain’ wasn’t quite as convincing
as I would have liked and there were characters added in that I didn’t think were
necessary. I enjoyed the development of the love story and there were some
definite happy sighs involved. It was a sweet story with sacrificial love and
loyalty. There’s not much to write on this one because it was lovely and that’s
pretty much the only way to describe it!
Number four will take our readers into
a jungle forest where our Belle is a woman of a rather savage tribe. I loved
how the author took me into a completely different world, very different from
the previous three. Our beast is also different than what I expected, and he
was pleasantly interesting to get to know.
I am sad to say that I was not happy with how much violence there was.
There were a few scenes in which a man of the tribe beats our Belle and his
wives harshly and another scene where a dead body is found brutally mutilated
and murdered. Some of the foolish choices the main character made were also
very frustrating to me and in the end, I wasn’t altogether satisfied with how
everything worked out. The spiritual side of it was also a bit odd. But, the
author definitely conveyed the tribal culture in the way she wrote. The style
really added to the jungle-y feel, and created a unique polish to the story.
The final tale was my absolute
favorite. I believe this one was closest to the original, but still had its own
twists and turns. The culture was vivid, set in Scotland in the 1750s, and even
the accents showed through. I loved Belle in this one. Bonnie, a girl plagued by
guilt sets off to save her family from the beast. As it turns out, the beast is
not the threat she originally thinks him to be. As time passes and the tale
unfolds, Bonnie begins to understand his past and his character. The dialogue
was fantastic. While some situations that Bonnie was placed in could have involved
cheesy conversations, the author scripted it all so well and realistically. I enjoyed the development, and while reading,
I could hear the thick Scottish accent in my head coming from the beast’s voice
and it really made the story even more life-like than it already was.
All you authors did a fantastic job and
I you each have such amazing talent! Thank you for these awesome stories!
